[1996-01-01-WWF-Raw] Billionaire Ted

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Let's show three variations of a powerbomb while making fun of WCW wrestlers for not being able to do any moves!

[Tim Evans]

Was this Russo's first on screen camera debut? And who played Billionaire Ted? He looks familiar.

[El-P]

One character was Russo ? Amazing, I never knew. Which one was he ?

[Loss]

One character was Russo ? Amazing, I never knew. Which one was he ?

Nameless suit.

 

I always felt like it was a missed opportunity and lack of attention to detail to use actors with such New Yawk voices, when that wasn't the culture in WCW at all. Part of the purpose of these skits was supposed to be to make fun of WCW's Southern leanings.

 

There's probably an interesting discussion to be had about the WWF hate of the South, considering that both Vince and his wife are from North Carolina.

[El-P]

Self hatred. That's also why he hates wrestling as a whole I guess, because when you think of it, the best US wrestling comes from the South (Mid-South, Memphis, Crockett). No ?

[sek69]

I always saw it as Vince trying to distance himself from his past. Funny thing is that despite that, he seems to have a fondness for Southern-based gimmicks. When he was an announcer, he always seemed way more excited to see Hillbillies and rednecks more than anyone else. Who else would have come up with a gimmick like Jimmy Wang Yang and kept it around as long as they did?

[Kronos]

Not very funny, though I did like Huckster's "At my age these feet don't leave the ground." True true.

[Jack_Briscoe_Is_My_Hero]

Agreed that it isn't funny, but this first skit doesn't appear to be as mean spirited as some have expressed looking back. I was 12 or so when these first came out so though I remember them I did not take the time to analyze them. Truth be told I always found them boring and worthless. This simply goes about explaining the differences between the WWF and WCW. Although the New Generation had been fueled by Diesel power for awhile, I see this as a big step in turning towards a new generation of fan. The WWF had a long way to go to get where that New Generation of fan was at, which they reached in the Attitude Era. I am curious to see if these skits turn real nasty as time goes by.

[Victator]

The one where Nacho Mans training consisted of covering his bald spot was funny.

 

One character was Russo ? Amazing, I never knew. Which one was he ?

The douche bag.

[kjh]

It's funny how two of the guys they were pushing ended up working for WCW in less than six months.

[BackToBionic]

Yeah by the time they did the "big" end to these skits at Wrestlemania it was already known that 2 of the guys they were most proud of were gonna be leaving.

 

People give Bischoff a lot of (deserved) criticism for his petty swiping at the WWF but they did a lot of the same shit even years later, when they had all but won, with the DX invasions and stuff.

[fishbaugh]

Russo as Turner middle management is pretty funny if only because his New York accent is so apparent. I didn't watch wrestling for a few years up through mid-96, so this is my first time seeing these skits. This first one is more silly than mean, which I had read they were.

[Kevin Ridge]

As a WWF guy back in the day I thought this initial segment was fun. Taking shots at both Hogan and Savage. Nothing too sinister at this point.

[BruiserBrody]

If Bischoff is going to take pot shots every week, why not fire back? Otherwise your just the nerd being bullied forever.

[flyonthewall2983]

The better option would have been to have Lawler do pot shots back instead of making a big production out of it.

[soup23]

This wasn't offensive but not needed either. A couple of funny spoofs but this went on for way too long and lost its appeal very quickly.

[PeteF3]

At the time, I thought it was overdue for the WWF to try to respond in some fashion. It was almost too insulting to keep pretending that WCW wasn't competition. This is actually a pretty effective, to-the-point first step. Of course it would go on too long and two of the WWF guys shown in the clips would be doing those fancy maneuvers in WCW in a matter of months.

[Stiva]

What struck me most about this was actually in the previous segment where Vince rattles off “Nacho Man” and “Huckster” which such pride in his voice. This was nothing, really but with Vince so invested, it was always going to turn sour